


The Phone Call

by thefalloutalleyouthzone



Series: Reaching Out [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Fluff, M/M, Makoto is a Sweetheart, OOC maybe, Phone Calls & Telephones, can you believe we finally had a scene with them, idk i am bad at tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 22:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15828171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefalloutalleyouthzone/pseuds/thefalloutalleyouthzone
Summary: Pull yourself together, Makoto.It’s just a silly phone call.Makoto unlocked his phone for what might have been the 11th time and fixated on the name that was glaring back at him."Yamazaki Sousuke"Just seeing it made him feel nervous.{A take on the conversation between Makoto and Sousuke in episode 3 of Free! Dive to the Future}





	The Phone Call

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first writing for this pairing, but I had to write something after seeing them talk over the phone in ep 3 of dive to the future!! I am so glad this rarepair got some content.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this self-indulgence of mine! It's completely different to what I normally write!

Makoto was perched on the edge of a bench outside his university, staring down at his phone. He had been sitting there for quite some time; taking deep breaths every so often to soothe his mind, jigging his right leg up and down when he felt the anxiety was becoming too much, clenching and unclenching his free hand to steady his rapidly beating heart.

 

_Pull yourself together, Makoto._

 

_It’s just a silly phone call._

 

Makoto unlocked his phone for what might have been the 11th time and fixated on the name that was glaring back at him.

 

**Yamazaki Sousuke**

 

Just seeing it made him feel nervous.

 

He had to press the call button soon. He had only just about managed to whip up the confidence to message the guy, asking whether he could speak to him. He had responded fairly quickly, which had given Makoto a sense of ease. He was always worried when starting a new conversation, especially to a number he hadn’t used in a while.

 

Would things be different? Would Sousuke laugh effortlessly down the phone if Makoto makes a small joke like he did once before? Would the conversation even last that long?

 

Makoto took another deep breath and decided to count to 10. He told himself that when he reached 10, he would open his eyes and hit the call button without delay, not giving himself a chance to turn back. There was a reason why he wanted to call the ex-Samezuka teammate anyway. He had to stop fretting about his own problems and try to figure out what the hell was going on with Ikuya.

 

1

 

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9

 

10

 

Makoto hit the call button and brought the phone immediately up to his ear, listening to the dial tone as he waited for Sousuke to pick up.

 

He didn’t need to wait that long.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Yamaz-“

 

“How many times have I said to call me Sousuke, Makoto?”

 

How he had missed that voice.

 

Makoto let out a nervous laugh. “Sousuke. It’s been awhile.”

 

“It certainly has. And who’s fault is that?” Makoto could picture Sousuke smirking as he said this. He wished it didn’t do things to his body. The number of times he had imagined Sousuke doing _anything_ was already insane.

 

“Sorry, moving to Tokyo was more challenging than I thought it would be.”

 

“Hmm. You did move with Haruka so understandable.”

 

“Sousuke!”

 

Sousuke laughed effortlessly down the phone at Makoto’s alarmed voice. “Relax, Makoto. I’m kidding. I could have easily called you as well, but things have also been… challenging. With my shoulder.”

 

Makoto’s mind immediately raced, worrying over a million things at once. He started to worry that Sousuke was bottling things in again, not communicating with anyone. He worried that he himself wasn’t doing his own job in making sure that his friend was okay and had let him dow-.

 

“Makoto… Don’t freak out on me. I’m fine. I’m coping.”

 

Makoto let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding.

 

It took a few seconds after for Makoto to respond. “You could just be saying that to ease my mind though…”

 

“Did it work?”

 

“Of course it didn’t. When do I ever not worry about my friends?” Makoto half-joked.

 

“Hmm… that is true. Which is why you wanted to talk?”

 

Right. The conversation they were meant to be having.

 

“It’s about Kirishima Ikuya.”

 

“Kirishima Ikuya? Oh Nagisa told you.”

 

“Yeah,” Makoto remembered how weird it felt to receive a text from Nagisa speaking about Sousuke. He knew that the dark-haired swimmer had been helping out with training at Samezuka, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the Iwatobi team would be included in that when they use the indoor swimming pool for joint practices.

What was surprising, was the feeling in his gut when he found out Sousuke had been in contact with his old teammates. It was a feeling he wasn’t particularly used to.

A feeling that felt wrong.

A feeling that felt selfish.

 

“I think I saw him in the IM, but that’s it. I don’t know anything else.”

 

There was a short pause on the end of the phone, a hesitant silence that fell flat.

 

“Is something going on with Kirishima Ikuya?”

 

_“Is something going on with you?”_

 

Makoto’s breath hitched. He thought he had misheard Sousuke, but then realised he was wrong. He felt silly for thinking that. “Well, I guess Haru talked to him a little… but I mean… I don’t know…” Makoto hesitated slightly. “It sounds like he’s changed a lot.”

 

He heard Sousuke let out a worried sigh at the other end of the phone.

 

Makoto paused again, still feeling hesitant, yet he knew he how hard it was to not succumb to Sousuke, to open himself up to him. There was just something about his aura; it latched onto Makoto and held him within his strong and firm, yet incredibly gentle manner.

He also guessed it was because they had something in common. They would do anything for their best friends and they both knew what it was like to lose the people they love in the midst of lost hope and forgotten dreams.

So he felt himself open up to the other more and more, despite how little they had spoken recently.

 

“You know, since Haru and I both quit swimming for a while in middle school…”

 

Maybe that’s why Makoto liked him so much; because he could easily share his worries with him, like others did with himself.

 

“An old teammate, huh?”

 

There was another long pause as the two teens shared a silence down the phone, both understanding what wasn’t being said. That there seemed to be a common theme with Haru; an old teammate would show up and have it out for him. But his best friend had figured out at this point that the two cases in which it had happened, were somehow intricately linked.

 

“How are you holding out in all of this?”

 

“Haru seems okay, he ju-“

 

“No, Makoto.” Sousuke’s deep voice broke off Makoto’s response, “I’m asking about _you.”_

 

The backstroke swimmer felt his cheeks flush as he heard this. He didn't get asked about his well-being very often; 9 times out of 10 he would automatically answer for Haru’s instead.

 

“I-I’m not sure. Ikuya had a friend with him… But I’m not sure about him.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“He seems… protective of Ikuya.. somewhat.” Makoto had been too scared to voice his opinion on the matter, but having just done so made him feel more certain that there was something going on.

 

”Like I was with Rin?” Sousuke replied. It sounded like it was meant to be a joke but the tone of the sentence was too serious.

 

Makoto couldn’t help but feel a little awkward, remembering how things started off at the beginning.

 

“No, it’s different. You were... pretty upfront with what your feelings were towards Haru at the beginning. His are more secretive... But I feel like he has been slyly trying to stop us from seeing Ikuya.” Makoto faltered, not really sure where that accusation came from, but the more he thought about it, the more it felt true.

 

“Could this be a person that Tachibana Makoto doesn’t _like_?” Sousuke joked down the phone.

 

“Sousuke! I never said that! He just gives me the creeps, that’s all.” Makoto admitted, frowning at the ground.

 

“Hmm, so you admit there are people you don’t like?”

 

“I think there’s been a few in my life…” Makoto replied in confusion. Why had this conversation turned towards him?

 

“Do you not like me?”

 

“Of course I like you! What made you think that?” Makoto hurriedly replied.

 

“Nothing, nothing. Jeeze, you worry too much Tachibana.”

 

Makoto was really thrown off by the questioning and didn’t know what to say next.

 

“Do you not like me then?” He heard himself say.

 

“Makoto that’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard. How can anyone not like you?” Sousuke chuckled.

 

“Aha, right.” Makoto felt a twinge in his gut. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was expecting to hear, but that wasn’t it.

 

Sousuke cleared his throat.

“I like you a lot actually.” He whispered.

 

Makoto held his breath. There was another long pause.

 

“Damn you, Tachibana. I avoid people for a reason, you know.” Sousuke teased again, but Makoto could hear his anxiousness in those words; Sousuke spent a long time building walls between himself and people, and it was hard to knock them down.

 

“What are you trying to say, Sousuke?” Makoto questioned. He felt his heartbeat quicken as he asked.

 

“That for the second time in my life. the first time being with Rin moving to Australia..." Makoto could hear Sousuke take another deep breath down the phone before carrying on, "I’m annoyed there is physical distance between me and someone... that someone being you.” Sousuke's answer came off rushed at the end, yet every word felt like the truth.

 

Makoto was silent. He didn’t know what to say or do. His heart was racing at the speed of light, or something similar at least.

 

“Visit me then,” he heard himself say.

 

Why did he say that?

And so easily too?

 

Sousuke sharply inhaled. “Since when have you been so demanding? Like the sense of control, Makoto?”

 

Makoto blushed at this, before replying: “I- I don’t know... d-do you like the feeling of submission?”

 

He facepalmed.

He couldn’t believe he just said that.

 

Sousuke sounded like he was trying not to choke on the other end.

“Jesus, Makoto… warn a guy before you make a move.”

 

Makoto couldn’t help but laugh into his hand at this; he was somehow quickly warming up to whatever what was going on. He didn’t want to admit it so easily, but he actually liked the response he was getting from the other man down the phone. Feeling ever slightly more confident, Makoto replied: “Sorry, but I think that defeats the point, Yamasaki.”

 

“Okay, you need to stop flirting before I really do drop everything and come to visit,” Sousuke warned, his voice getting husky and sounded more flirtatious.

 

The backstroke swimmer felt an involuntary blush crawl up his skin. “I wasn’t-“

 

“Don’t lie to me, Tachibana. I think we’ve both made it clear how we feel about each other just now.”

 

Makoto was unable to resist the smile spreading across his face. Of course, he hadn’t been trying to hide it _exactly_ , they had been talking to each other for a few months, ever since they were formally introduced at the Samezuka’s Cultural Festival; but he hated the idea of confronting his feelings. He also didn’t want to ruin the friendship that had beautifully sprouted, so he didn’t want to draw attention to the way he felt about the butterfly swimmer. Still, he tried his best to not answer Sousuke just yet. “And what’s that, Yamazaki?”

 

“This is why I don’t like people using my last name. You just saying it is torture.” Sousuke groaned.

 

“Okay okay, I’ll stop.” Makoto laughed. He hadn’t felt this good in a very long time, the drama with Ikuya had been constantly making him feel on edge. It seemed that Sousuke was able to disperse his worries for him in an instant though. It had been that way when they first started talking. It had always been that way.

 

“So, Sousuke..”

 

“Okay, my first name is banned too now…”

 

“What am I supposed to call you then? Senpai?” Makoto joked.

 

There was silence down the phone.

 

“Sousuke?” Makoto started to panic.

 

Oh no.

 

He’d gone too far and scared Sousuke away.

 

“... I’m sorry, I will stop now.”

 

Nothing.

 

“Hello?” Makoto pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen. The call was still connected so he wasn’t sure why he couldn’t hear anything on the other side.

He was about to hang up after a few minutes of silence had panned out when he heard some noise again.

 

“Sousuke?”

 

“Okay, I’ve booked tickets to travel to Tokyo.”

 

Makoto’s heart skipped a beat.

 

“You did what?!”

 

“I booked tickets to come and see you. There is no way I am leaving this at you calling me senpai and having to deal with it all by myself.” Makoto thought Sousuke’s voice sounded lower when he said this.

 

Sousuke was really coming to Tokyo?!

 

“Although I should warn you, I’m an extremely selfish guy, Makoto. And people that tease me don’t get let off the hook so easily.” Sousuke’s voice was definitely a lot deeper, huskier. A switch had definitely been flipped by Makoto's painfully obvious attempt at flirting.

 

“Sousuke-“

 

“What happened to senpai?”

 

Makoto felt a shiver through his entire body.

A smile plastered itself across his face and refused to move.

 

Makoto closed his eyes and exhaled. “When do you arrive?”

 

“This weekend.”

 

Makoto‘s eye shot open at the piece of news.

 

“Okay, that doesn’t give me much time to prepare though, you should have at least waited! Where will you stay?” Makoto asked, but as soon as he did he had an idea what Sousuke would say next.

 

“Well there’s this really good-looking guy I know, I’m hoping he’ll have me…” Makoto felt shivers travelling down his spine again, “but if not then I’ll ask to bunk with you.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“What? You were expecting something else weren’t you?” Sousuke sounded so proud as he said this, happy he could read Makoto like a book and could tease him like that.

 

“What makes you think there was an offer in the first place?”

 

“Because you’re too nice to leave me sleeping on the streets...” Sousuke argued. “And you admitted that you liked me.”

 

Makoto had no control over his blush even then.

 

“Well of course I do. It’s so terribly hard not to.” Makoto whined, feeling like a kid.

 

“Hey, don’t go stealing my chat-up lines.” Sousuke joked, referring to the earlier part of the conversation.

 

Makoto's smile widened more, testing out how far it physically could spread. This conversation had turned out to be better than he ever expected.

 

“Thank you, Sousuke. I look forward to seeing you.”

 

“Me? Or my muscles?”

 

Makoto gasped at Sousuke’s up-front flirting, his mind flooded with memories of him gawping at Sousuke’s body at all the joint practice meetings. It was just a small crush back then; he had hardly seen anyone bigger than him and he had always liked the idea of having someone being able to make him feel safe and warm, someone like Sousuke.

Yet Sousuke wasn’t exactly in a happy place then, so he didn’t think he even knew Makoto existed.

 

“I didn’t think you noticed that...” Makoto softly admitted. “Why didn’t you mention it before?!” Makoto added.

 

“You were staring pretty hard at the first swim meet, I was surprised no one else commented," Sousuke was definitely enjoying Makoto's embarrassment. "And because I was waiting for this particular moment obviously.” Sousuke chuckled.

 

Sousuke then added, “I doubt you realised I was checking you out too though.”

 

He hadn’t. “Really?”

 

“Really, really.” Sousuke replied.

 

Makoto couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face.

 

“I should probably go now Makoto, see you this weekend.” Sousuke sounded like he was smiling as he said this, and that alone gave Makoto butterflies.

 

Sousuke hung up and left the backstroke swimmer feeling like he was on cloud nine.

 

It was an amazing feeling.

 

_Sousuke is coming to visit._

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have been slowly working on this since ep 3 and I actually added in Sousuke going to visit Tokyo before it was announced he would be visiting in ep 7! Maybe me publishing this fic will make them actually meet up in the anime...
> 
> Edit Note: changed the mode of transportation since bullet train would definitely be easier to travel by!


End file.
